News from the South - Florida News Feed

Inmate advocates work to air-condition some Florida prisons this session

Published

2 weeks ago

April 4, 2025

Staff Editor

floridaphoenix.com – Mitch Perry – 2025-04-04 16:53:00

by Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
April 4, 2025

Extreme heat at a Miami-area prison without air conditioning has subjected prisoners to cruel and unusual punishment, according to a federal lawsuit filed in October by the Florida Justice Institute.

Nearly three quarters of Florida prisons lack air-conditioning, and that isn’t going to be resolved during the sitting legislative session. But a pilot program proposed in the pending Florida Senate’s budget bill would provide much-needed cooling in wings of several South Florida correction facilities that provide re-entry programs for inmates.

Specifically, the $300,000 appropriation would go towards air conditioning units in dorm rooms of institutions where Horizon Communities Corp. provides its Faith & Character program, which teaches basic life skills and faith principles to inmates in several prisons in Miami-Dade County.

The idea started with prison rights advocate Connie Edson, who has worked for five years to try to give inmates relief from the scorching Florida temperatures.

In 2022, she teamed with Gainesville Democratic Rep. Yvette Hinson to implement a pilot program that tested large portable evaporative coolers at Lowell Correctional Institution in Marion County, Florida’s largest state prison. The project ultimately ended, with Department Corrections Secretary Ricky Dixon telling a legislative committee in fall 2023 that they weren’t the solution.

“These portable units and some band-aid approaches we’ve tried … even the [inmate] population doesn’t like them,” he said, referring to the noise and moisture that they create.

But that hasn’t discouraged Edson, and over the past year she connected with Horizon executive director Nathan Schaidt to work with legislators on creating air-conditioning units in the dorms where Horizon provides instruction. The appropriation was offered by Miami-Dade Republican Ana Maria Rodriguez in the Senate and Republican Jim Mooney in the House, who represents Florida’s southernmost district encompassing parts of Miami-Dade and all of the Keys.

Older volunteers

Horizon relies heavily on volunteers who average between 60 and 80 years of age and who could contribute more if it weren’t so hot in those facilities, Schaidt said.

“The issue is that we don’t do that work in the chapel, we don’t do our work in education, we go down to the dorm where the men and women live. And so when you start hitting the summer months, a lot of our volunteers, they have to bow out. They can’t go and sit for two hours in that heat trying to teach these classes,” he said.

Schaidt compares what takes place on a regular basis at least eight months of the year to a college class in which the air-conditioning was broken on a specific day.

“What would they do?” he asks.”They’re probably going to cancel class. It’s very unlikely that they’re going to say, ‘Well, you paid for this and you need to sit through here, even though it’s a one-day thing and we’re working on the air conditioning but you need to be in class today.’

“We don’t have that option. They’re going to be there. And this isn’t just classes, this is their daily life, right? The issue we run into is, if you add to their inability to regulate their emotions to their inability to focus, their inability to sometimes learn and just the basic environment. Now add to that the heat. It’s a battle. It’s something that you’re fighting with over and over again.”

Since it was created in 1999, Schaidt said, Horizon has worked with thousands of men and women who have subsequently left the Florida prison system and boasts of a 5% recidivist rate. He says that if those inmates could study in a more comfortable environment with air-conditioning, those numbers might be even better.

Meanwhile, Edson has her fingers crossed that what she considers a relatively modest proposal will make it over the finish line when lawmakers unveil their 2025-2026 FY budget later this month.

A report by the global consulting firm KPMG that was released in the fall of 2023 put the costs to add air-conditioning to all of the state’s prisons at $582 million.

YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.

SUPPORT

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

The post Inmate advocates work to air-condition some Florida prisons this session appeared first on floridaphoenix.com

Up Next

Trump administration nixes plan to cover anti-obesity drugs through Medicare

Don't Miss

Microsoft’s AI division head wants to create a lasting relationship between chatbots and their users

News from the South - Florida News Feed

Federal judge extends block on Florida immigration law that led to arrest of a U.S. citizen

Published

6 hours ago

April 18, 2025

Staff Editor

floridaphoenix.com – Jackie Llanos – 2025-04-18 14:36:00

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix
April 18, 2025

A federal judge brought up the arrest in Leon County of Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a U.S. citizen born in Georgia, during a hearing Friday in which she extended her block of the new Florida immigration law until April 29.

U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Williams expressed frustration about the arrests of Lopez-Gomez and others, said an attorney representing the immigrants and groups suing the state.

At issue is Williams’ April 4 order temporarily barring enforcement of a law passed during a special session earlier this year making it a first-degree misdemeanor to illegally enter the state as an “unauthorized alien.”

A Florida Highway Patrol trooper’s arrest of Lopez-Gomez on Wednesday prompted national attention following Florida Phoenix’s reports that he was set to remain in jail because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had placed a 48-hour hold on him — even after a Leon County judge determined there had been no probable cause for the arrest.

Lopez-Gomez was released from Leon County jail on Thursday evening. The 20-year-old held his mother in a tight embrace and wept when they reunited.

“We appreciate that the federal courts have seen through this blatantly unconstitutional law, but the reality is that, without enforcement, it seems that local law enforcement and Florida Highway Patrol are continuing to ignore the judge and order,” said Miriam Fahsi Haskell, an attorney for Community Justice Project representing the plaintiffs, in a phone interview with the Phoenix. “The reality is that once a person is arrested under SB 4C and booked into jail, that person risks then having an ICE hold on them.”

Community Justice Project, the ACLU of Florida, Americans for Immigrant Justice, and Florida Legal Services attorneys are representing the plaintiffs: the Florida Immigrant Coalition, Farmworker Association of Florida Inc., and two women without permanent legal status.

David Matthew Costello, lead attorney representing Attorney General James Uthmeier, declined to comment, and a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office did not respond to the Phoenix’s questions. The other defendants are the statewide prosecutor and state attorneys.

Binding?

During the hearing at the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Florida in Miami, attorneys representing the state argued that law enforcement is not bound by Williams’ order, Fahsi Haskell said. Another hearing is set for April 29.

“The Court enters a [temporary restraining order] prohibiting Defendants and their officers, agents, employees, attorneys, and any person who are in active concert or participation with them from enforcing SB 4-C,” Williams’ order states.

Two other men were with Lopez-Gomez when the trooper stopped the car because the driver was going 78 mph in a 65 mph zone, according to the arrest report. The driver, Estiven Sales-Perez, and another passenger, Ismael Sales-Luis, were also charged with illegal entry as “unauthorized aliens.” The driver was also charged with driving without a license.

ICE has taken custody of Sales-Perez and is holding him in a Tallahassee field office, according to the online detainee locator system.

“Florida Highway Patrol will continue to work willingly with our federal partners to engage in interior enforcement of immigration law,” a spokesperson for the agency wrote in a statement to the Phoenix.

Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried called the arrest a kidnapping.

“Where does the lawlessness of this administration stop? If this can happen to an American-born citizen, it can happen to any of us,” she said in a statement.

YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.

SUPPORT

The post Federal judge extends block on Florida immigration law that led to arrest of a U.S. citizen appeared first on floridaphoenix.com

News from the South - Florida News Feed

How Florida State University shooting unfolded

Published

8 hours ago

April 18, 2025

Staff Editor

www.clickorlando.com – Brenda Argueta – 2025-04-18 13:26:00

SUMMARY: A shooting at Florida State University on Thursday resulted in two deaths and six injuries. The shooter, identified as 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, the son of a deputy and a university student, opened fire near the student union. Law enforcement neutralized the threat within five minutes after Ikner began shooting around noon. He was shot and taken into custody by police. The two fatalities were not students; one worked in campus dining. The six injured individuals are in stable condition and expected to recover. In response, the university canceled athletic events for the weekend. Authorities are still investigating the motive.

Read the full article

The post How Florida State University shooting unfolded appeared first on www.clickorlando.com

News from the South - Florida News Feed

Living with Parkinson's: The emotional, physical toll on caretakers

Published

10 hours ago

April 18, 2025

Staff Editor

Living with Parkinson's: The emotional, physical toll on caretakers

www.youtube.com – CBS Miami – 2025-04-18 11:00:17

SUMMARY: During Parkinson’s Awareness Month, CBS News Miami’s Ted Scoutton, who has Parkinson’s, explores the emotional and physical challenges faced by caregivers. Susan Stalker shares her experience caring for her brother Robert, who moved in with her after Hurricane Helen made living alone unsafe for him. The transition has been difficult, filled with frustration and exhaustion. Susan reflects on a particularly challenging night when she struggled to help Robert after he fell, feeling angry with herself for losing patience. Despite the hardships, her commitment stems from love, showcasing the complex emotional landscape of caregiving for those with Parkinson’s.